NEW YORK—As 2024 winds down and we head full force into the new year, many people are using this time to take stock of the days both behind and ahead so that they can craft goals, resolutions and plans for 2025. With a fresh 365 days before us, these last few days of the year provide a wonderful opportunity to really think about what we want to bring with us into the new year—which makes this the perfect time to think about environmental, sustainable resolutions. We know that every little bit helps in the grand scheme, and that individual small actions can add up to make a huge difference. This week, in the tail end of the year and in the light of another, let’s take a look at some commitments we can make to ourselves and the world around us moving forward.

One Tree Planted, a nonprofit focused on global reforestation that works with a number of eyewear brands, addressed the idea of sustainable new year’s resolutions at the end of 2023. One of the organizations suggestions was to do more local shopping. They wrote, “Small businesses help power local economies and, by extension, the local governments that depend on the tax dollars they generate. So the next time you have a purchase to make, shop around locally first. You’ll be putting food on a local family's table and reducing your own carbon footprint by not having items shipped from thousands of miles away.”

Shopping locally is a particularly resonant resolution for ECPs and their communities—both in regards to encouraging patients to visit local, independent ECPs and in supporting fellow small businesses in their communities. Try posting on social media encouraging patients, both current and potential, to make a small business support resolution. And do your part by shouting out the locally owned businesses in your community too, from the bakery down the block to your favorite small, independent bookstore.

At the end of 2023, Yale University, recommended resolutions to learn what is and isn’t recyclable, and to shop and sell secondhand—two topics that are at the forefront of the conversations in the optical business. Many ECPs have found success in creating a contact lens recycling program in their offices through Bausch + Lomb’s recycling programs, which provide ECPs with recycling drop boxes for contact lens blister packs and packaging.

Programs like this one not only encourage environmental responsibility but also can help build community by creating a place for people to meet and drop by. Secondhand shopping can be interpreted as another form of recycling, and it is incredibly popular with younger generations in particular. Building a specified segment of your optical for vintage or reused frames can capture that market while also creating less waste overall.

Finally, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also offers a list of 10 easy ways to protect the planet, which includes educating and volunteering. Environmentally-focused volunteer activities can be a great team bonding event for your staff—from local beach cleanups to tree planting, resolve to try to get together at one event each season. In the office, resolving to be clearer about sustainable education can make a major impact—both for office staff and patients. If everyone in the office is knowledgeable about the sustainable options on shelf, that information can be enthusiastically passed along to patients, who can then make more informed purchasing decisions.

Resolving to be more environmentally friendly can feel overwhelming and unachievable in the big picture, but when broken down into smaller, more manageable resolutions it’s clear to see how much of an impact we all can make. Together, let’s resolve to do the little things in 2025—and this time next year, we can look back with pride.